It's against my principles to buy a book I haven't read, it's like buying a dress you haven't tried on.

Standing there, staring at the long shelves crammed with books, I felt myself relax and was suddenly at peace.

I love inscriptions on flyleaves and notes in margins, I like the comradely sense of turning pages someone else turned, and reading passages someone long gone has called my attention to.

If you happen to pass by 84 Charing Cross Road, kiss it for me? I owe it so much.

Why is it that people who wouldn't dream of stealing anything else think it's perfectly all right to steal books?

And for at least that moment, I wouldn't have traded the hundreds of books I've read for the few I know almost by heart.

I wanted to see London the way old people want to see home before they die.

History, as they say, is alive and well and living in London.

Talent is the infinite capacity for taking pains. Genius is the infinite capacity for achievement without taking any pains at all.

Hollywood isn't a place, it's a way of life.

I liked reading about the nun who ate so dainty with her fingers she never dripped any grease on herself. I've never been able to make that claim and I use a fork.

if... says: 'Do not be greedy, be generous', you may inwardly interpret this in such a manner that you will develop a greed for generosity

Marriage is not a ritual or an end. It is a long intricate intimate dance together and nothing matters more than your own sense of balance and your choice of partner.

All events are secretly interrelated; the sweep of all we are doing reaches beyond the horizon of our comprehension.

I'm attracted to short screenplays. Nobody really wants a film to be over two hours, or at least I don't.

I mean, do you know what you get when you call a suicide hotline in New York city? A busy signal. Literally.

We must confront the world now with an ethics to make it tremble, and with a dynamic to give it hope

Optimism can keep a fool from accepting failure.

I love the idea that people are listening to "Tales" during all types of activities. Knitting in their favorite chair, rock climbing, sky diving, driving at night.

I made a pact with myself that I'd rather have less money than be embarrassed.

Writing is the greatest thing that can happen to a human being. It's the best.